With The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul finally out of the way, we can throw ourselves entirely willingly back into the twists and turns of Grant Morrison’s monolithic Batman run. With the exception of Batman RIP, The Black Glove story from Morrison’s run is probably the most famous as it’s a clear example of the writer’s love of reusing old characters from eras gone by. See, this is where that review of The Black Casebook I did about two months ago (read here) becomes important. I’ve read several reading lists for Morrison’s run and nearly all of them include Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Gothic (both by Morrison in the late 1980s and early 1990s), along with the three stories in the Demon Trilogy. None of these are necessary at all when it comes to the complex Black Glove storyline, but the Black Casebook is certainly key. Here, you begin to discover why strange characters who appeared ever so briefly in The Batmen of All Nations are part of a much larger conspiracy, and how Batman’s newest and deadliest villain will use the events of Robin Dies at Dawn to mentally torture the Dark Knight and destroy him for good…
Batman 667-669, and 672-675 was published from August to October 2007 and February to May 2008 respectively (with issues 670-671 being Resurrection of Ra’s Al
Ghul crossovers). The stories were written by Grant Morrison with art by J.H. Williams III, Tony S. Daniel, Ryan Benjamin, Jonathan Glapion, Mark Irwin, Sandu Florea, Saleem Crawford. I’ve read the stories in the Batman: The Black Glove trade paperback.
The Island of Mister Mayhew/Now We Are Dead/The Dark Knight Must Die --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by J.H. Williams III
I’m pretty sure there couldn’t have been many people who picked up Batman 667 when it was first released and knew exactly who characters like Knight, Squire, Man-Of-Bats, El Gaucho, and Mister Mayhew were. Several of the stories from the Black Casebook introduce these characters, but the main two are The Batmen of All Nations (Detective Comics 215) and The Club of Heroes (World’s Finest 89). Essentially, the Batmen of All Nations are a group of vigilantes from across the world, all of whom idolise Batman and Robin. With the Club of Heroes, the main point of note is Mister Mayhew, the mysterious businessman who gives the heroic team a base in the bustling Metropolis city. As ever, Morrison isn’t one to leave plot-points unfinished, regardless of time or era. Together, Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) head to the reunion of the team that hasn’t met in years. Knight, the main star of the team who was once Squire (the sidekick in the duo) before his old master died, greets Batman but warns that the team has never forgiven him for leaving them. The team now consists of Dark Ranger, El Gaucho, Knight, Legionary, Man-Of-Bats, Musketeer, Raven Red, Squire, and Wingman, nearly all of whom would be familiar to silver age readers. But, the glory days of the 1950s is a long way away from the dark 2000s. The heroes are now visibly aged and some, like the Legionary for instance, take to eating more than crimefighting. With Batman’s arrival, they get down to business as they are suddenly thrown into a mystery as a villain using the dead John Mayhew’s face demands the heroes solve his murder, or the Black Glove will kill them all. With the Bat-Plane then destroyed, the heroes are stuck on the island and the Legionary becomes the next victim of the Black Glove’s murderous hands. Can’t say his death was unexpected. The second part begins with a flashback to what appears, on the outside, to be a happier time. We see the original Club of Heroes in their colourful heyday, but with the Dark Knight gone the whole team falls apart. In the modern day, Batman is back in charge. One of the most interesting aspects of Morrison’s story is that he manages to give the Club of Heroes distinctive characters. Back in the silver age, that was something they lacked because there was much more focus on storytelling. Here, since these characters have been ignored by Batman for years, they hold that against him and clearly resent him for it. Some of the arguments between characters in the Club add something to them which was never present before and it’s shows that Morrison, while obviously wanting to preserve their originality, can modernise them successfully. Anyway, Batman and Robin, along with Squire, do all the investigation work. Suddenly, Knight is attacked and is forced to swallow a bomb by a “big bloke” and he is forced to vomit to get rid of it, suits of armour around the castle come to life and begin firing machine guns. With the heroes all split up, Robin and Squire find a predictable hidden passage behind a bookcase, while El Gaucho kills a tiny robotic blue scorpion, known as a calling card for the assassin Scorpiana. El Gaucho also works out that the android was created by El Sombrero, another foe of the Mexican hero who designs death traps. See, this is an example of Morrison expanding the lore in a way that is interesting. He transforms these characters from cardboard cut-outs into real breathing human beings. Well, there’s less of them now as Wingman is found to have been killed. It seems that the Black Glove is closing in on victory. With the third part, we go back in the past and watch as a young Knight defends his father as he accuses Mayhew of murder, something that the Knight of today believes could be useful in solving the mystery of the Black Glove. Besides, he has more pressing problems to deal with as Man-Of-Bats is forced to cut him open to retrieve the bomb, just seconds before it explodes. With Wingman dead, Batman works out that he was killed by King Kraken, a pirate who despised him. However, the Dark Knight realises that the Dark Ranger isn’t actually the Dark Ranger, but Wingman in disguise. The Wingman who died was actually the Dark Ranger, who fell into Wingman’s trap. Yes, that’s a very confusing revelation and one that has so many plot holes in it, but it works due to its ridiculousness. Anyway, with Wingman’s real plan of fame and money revealed, he tries to fight back against Batman, but he fails and is defeated. Batman tells him that he isn’t a hero for fame, but because it’s right. Again, this is how Morrison shakes up these characters and makes them into something interesting. To some degree, they’re all have ulterior motives since they’re third-rate Batman knock offs. Wingman’s fall from grace is one of the more interesting aspects as it sums up the sadness that this group has been forgotten about for so long and that is reflected in its members. Meanwhile, Robin and Squire, along with Raven Red, have been kidnapped by El Sombrero and placed in one of his Saw-like death traps involving deadly wasps and piranhas. As Man-Of-Bats arrives just in time to rescue the heroes, El Sombrero escapes and just before he takes off in his plane, he assassinates Wingman before he can reveal anymore (continued)
information to Batman. The Dark Knight, not one to leave loose ends, chasses after El Sombrero and hijacks his plane, before discovering that the man under the mask is in fact Mayhew. After six marriages and a life of aristocracy which came to end after he was accused of murdering one of his wives, Mayhew turned to murder for fun and worked with the Black Glove to bring down Batman. Before Mayhew vanishes, he warns Batman that the Black Glove is closing in. As the Club of Heroes reunites and leaves the island, it explodes. The Club of Heroes reunion may be over, but this time, they won’t be forgotten. With this three-parter, Morrison delivers a story that presents Batman in his element. This is a classic detective mystery with twists and turns that are unexpected, while also displaying some brilliant character interactions between the Club of Heroes members. That is where Morrison shines with this story. He manages to energise characters who were, perhaps likable, but plain and cardboard characters and transform them into real heroes that all have different relationships and feelings towards one another and Batman himself. Morrison develops the Black Glove saga well and while that’s its main purpose, I’ve actually read this story on its own once or twice just for the fun of it. It’s great if you like either the silver age, the Black Glove saga, or both. We’ll be seeing some of these characters again...
In terms of the art, J.H. Williams III’s rather moody and grim art works incredibly effectively and gives the story an old-fashioned, yet gothic appearance. He uses his retro side from time to time when it comes to the flashbacks, which works effectively with the recreation of dot-screen colouring. Williams, along with Morrison’s abstract storytelling, conveys the events of the story uniquely which makes it hugely memorable and very enjoyable. This is Williams’s only work on Morrison’s Batman run, but with a grim and mysterious mood, it’s more than suitable.
Story: 9.5/10
Art: 9/10
Space Medicine/Joe Chill in Hell/Batman Dies at Dawn --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Tony S. Daniel, Sandu Florea, Jonathan Glapion, and Mark Irwin
As with the previous story, you’d do well to remember another silver age classic when heading into this one. As if the title of the third part didn’t make it clear enough, this one is both influenced and a continuation of Robin Dies at Dawn (Batman 156), which is a genuine early sixties classic that mentally tortures Batman as he places himself in an isolation chamber for ten days and witnesses the death of Dick Grayson’s Robin. Before we get to that part of the story however, it begins with The Third Man. He appeared briefly in Batman 666 as the main villain, and here he kidnaps Commissioner Gordon believing him to be the previous occupier, Vane (Gordon was away for a year before Face the Face). Meanwhile, Batman hears the news just as he is about to skydive over Gotham with Jezebel Jet, the girlfriend he has only met once or twice but is now written like a regular character. Anyway, Bruce gets Alfred to make some excuse about how he landed far away in the city before he becomes Batman and confronts the Third Man. It doesn’t exactly go smoothly however as Batman suffers a heart attack brought on by the Third Man’s weaponry and as he faints and his vision darkens, those mysterious words “Zur-En-Arrh” appear along with that mischievous imp known as Bat-Mite. It’s a great way to end the first part because scattered throughout the run are those alien words, ”Zur-En-Arrh”. They appeared at the very start when those three Batmen shot the Joker. Everything is coming together. It’s also great because Bat-Mite hasn’t been used seriously in a story in several decades, ignoring Alan Grant’s Legend of the Dark Mite (Legends of the Dark Knight 38). Regardless, pretty much most of the second part is a recap and retelling of many events from the silver age that prove to be important not just here in this story, but also in Batman RIP. One of the most interesting is the retelling of Robin Dies at Dawn and how Morrison doesn’t just rewrite the scene but adds new additions to them. For instance, it’s now said that Batman entered the isolation chamber to experience what life is like as the Joker, as opposed to aiding the US (continued)
government in the space race (which was far more suitable in 1963, even though they still do mention space medicine). Morrison even manages to add something interesting to the Joe Chill saga. Batman’s origin story has been hugely overused in recent years, but Morrison ends the story of Chill in a very different, unexpected, and dramatic way. When it comes to a main villain, does anybody remember Dr Simon Hurt? Well, originally, he was named Professor Hanson and even in the silver age, with the art by Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris, he stood as a visually sinister character with dark shadowing. Now Simon Hurt, it’s revealed that he is the mastermind behind Batman’s destruction. When Batman awakens in the final part, The Third Man tells a story about the Bat-Cops who have been appearing in recent issues. Simon Hurt selected three cops to basically become Batmen as demanded by Commissioner Vane due to the failing Gotham City Police Force in the year that the Dark Knight and his chums were out of town. The chosen cops were Muller, a gun-crazed vigilante, Branca, the Bane-like bone-crusher, and the Third Man himself. However, instead of using them purely for the police, Hurt used them to test Batman’s skill in the ongoing war between the Caped Crusader and the Black Glove. It’s a very clever move by Hurt because all three of them represent Batman’s greatest fears. Those of course are guns, getting his back broke and… Satan? I don’t know about the Third Man, but perhaps Batman is afraid of himself and what he’s become. It could also represent Azrael, as Michael Lane (The Third Man) eventually becomes the second person to take the holy mantle. Anyway, while the Third Man keeps rambling on, Batman cleverly makes his escape and attempts to capture and beat the villain. However, Bat-Bane turns up, but he is quickly shot and killed by the police. In the end, the Third Man escapes, and Batman is left to simply return to the city and lie in a dumper with his opened parachute, telling Alfred to call Jezebel and the paparazzi. Although Morrison introduces Simon Hurt as the main villain of his run pretty late on, the fact that he isn’t seen in this story but is known to have orchestrated everything that happens is very telling. I think Simon Hurt only turns up in two stories of Morrison’s huge run. That’s a great advantage as it makes him into a far more threatening and unpredictable villain. Apart from that, Morrison concludes the cop storyline well, but I think the story could have actually benefited from being longer as the backstory surrounding the cops is very sudden and it lacks breathing room. Nevertheless, Morrison succeeds here in writing an engaging and entertaining story that sets the scene for RIP effectively.
The art here may not be as mysterious or unique as in the previous story, but it be would be a lie to state that it isn’t action packed. Despite many of the artists here, especially Tony Daniel, lacking a coherent or noteworthy style of art, they deliver a story that is full of action and impressive visual events. As I said, the only real problem is that it isn’t particularly memorable and its not what I’d consider to be great Batman art, but overall, it gets the job done and tells an action-packed story adequately.
Story: 8/10
Art: 7/10
The Friend with Nine Eyes --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Ryan Benjamin and Saleem Crawford
As basically a bridge between The Black Glove story and RIP, the core story of Morrison’s run, we get this one-off which basically acts as filler. For much of it, it
focuses on the relationship between Bruce and Jezebel and how she feels its very distant. Well, you’ve only met each other about three or four times over the space of about a week. Again, this is the biggest problem with Morrison’s run when it comes to Jezebel Jet. For starters, you know something is up with her because of just how quickly she appears on the scene, but Bruce falls for her too easily and too quickly. Regardless, the story here aims to complete their romance as one day, they go out to a restaurant which is raided by the Ten-Eyed Man. Definitely a challenge for Batman. The villain kidnaps Jezebel and as Bruce is held hostage, the world around him begins to act. Robin and Nightwing are on their way, while Talia and Damian realise that the events of recent days are leading to something big and that they must act. But it doesn’t matter anyway as Bruce breaks free and defeats the Ten-Eyed Man by pouring boiling hot vegetable oil on his fingers, causing him to go blind. With that, Jezebel realises that her lover is Batman because she finally sees Bruce Wayne for who he really is. In this story and in others, Morrison explores one of my favourite aspects of Batman and that is that Bruce Wayne is the mask. Most standard writers who write Batman as the masked character, but it’s actually the other way around. Bruce Wayne is the mask hiding the anger and determination of Batman, the real persona of the rich playboy. While I like that aspect, this story is somewhat forgettable and serves really only as a quick break between two very significant stories.
If you like monster stories, then you’re in for a treat. Benjamin, with Crawford’s scratchy inks, produces some pretty grotesque art that over exaggerates virtually every scene in the story. This is particularly noticeable at the end when Bruce Wayne is revealed as Batman to Jezebel, looking more like Solomon Grundy than Batman. The storytelling may be fine, but the finishes remind me too much of Rob Liefeld and that’s never a good sign.
Story: 6.5/10
Art: 3/10
VERDICT
Overall, Batman: The Black Glove is another great addition to Morrison’s run and one that doesn’t deserve to be called just a prequel to Batman RIP. The main Black Glove story illustrates Morrison’s love of the silver age and good old fashioned detective stories while also proving that, with his unique style of storytelling and character-writing, he is a moderniser. The same applies to the very creative Batman Dies at Dawn, which explores new territory in the Batman mythos. The Friend with Nine-Eyes may feature the return of a laughable foe from the past, but it’s far from noteworthy or particularly interesting, but I guess it succeeds in the bridging the gap between The Black Glove and RIP…
Stories: 8.5/10
Art: 6/10
Next Week: Batman RIP (Batman 676-681). Written by Grant Morrison with art by Tony S. Daniel, and Sandu Flores.
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